George Digalakis is a Greek fine art photographer based in Athens, a medical doctor by profession, passionate about minimalist black and white landscapes. His intention is that through his surrealist works to inspire, to transport the viewer into the unknown, almost unworldly world, to instill a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. George’s visual poems have a strong impact through the nostalgic spirit of places, elements of nature, simplicity, and monochrome approach.
"Photographer of the Year" at the Visions International Photo Awards in Toulouse, the prestigious "Hermes" award of the Hellenic Photographic Society, Hellenic Photographic Society 2022 (Gold Medal), TIFA Awards 2018 and 2021 (Gold Medals), Px3 (Gold Medal - twice), Minimalist Photography Awards (1st Place) are just a few of the awards he has won over the years. He has also participated in over 50 group exhibitions worldwide and presentations of his work have been published in various magazines and websites such as Lens Work Magazine, Zoom Magazine, LeMag Magazine, Shot Magazine, Blur Magazine, Minimalism Magazine, Schwarzweiss Magazine, Dodho Magazine, My Modern Met, F-Stop Magazine, Photographize Magazine.
Hello, George,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for taking the time to tell us about you and your work in this interview.
To begin, please tell us something about yourself and your passions.
Before starting, I would like to thank you for this invitation. It’s a pleasure talking to you about photography and answering your questions.
Discovering photography is amongst the things I am most grateful for, despite having to often wake up in unearthly hours, get soaked to the bone or lose my equipment in windy cliffs around the world. Getting to feel the printed image with my hands, and achieving the intended appearance and atmosphere, is a sufficient reward for my efforts.
I was born and raised in Athens, Greece, in 1960. A medical doctor by profession, I still live and work in Athens. Traveling and exploring new exciting places inspires me the most and it combines perfectly with my passion for photography.
Whilst typically a hobby, since I’m an amateur photographer with a day-to-day job, photography is in fact a great passion with a most decisive role in my life. I spend almost all of my free time in activities connected with photography, and even my vacations are planned based on the photographic opportunities.
When and how did you discover photography? How did this journey start?
My first contact with photography was back in 1974, when I received a “Nettar” as a gift from my father. What attracted me to photography is its ability to create beauty in ordinary places and order out of the disordered world. Since then, the camera has become an integral part of my daily life. I used to love the image making process and the dark room environment in the film era, but, initially, it was just a record of the important moments of my life.
Gradually, as I got acquainted with the work of the great photographers of the past and especially black and white, minimalist photography, I realized that through this medium I could express an aspect of myself that until then had remained silent. Photography proved to be a permanent source of inspiration and life-changing experience.
But then life happened. University, specialty, medical practice, and family are very demanding, and for many years I had barely any free time for photography. It was only in 2008 that I found the necessary time to take photography seriously.
Mostly self-taught, I have only taken a correspondence photography course for 2 years (2008-2010). I have no other formal education. The event that changed my attitude to photography though was back in 2014, when winning the silver medal in Px3 competition made me realize that my images can stand in the international arena and most importantly affect other people.
Of all the genres, why were you drawn to landscape and fine art photography?
Nature is an inspiration for all the artists and the different way we convey it, depends on our inner vision and life experiences. As a child, I used to spend the whole summer vacation in the island of Crete and the water is an element I deeply love. I saw an unaffected by massive tourism seascape that remains for me an ideal - a landscape and people in harmony. I still love the sea, because it combines calmness with drama, it is a barrier but also a portal for the mind to travel away from the everyday.
There is where I find inspiration, in my emotional response to the landscape and especially the sea and the sky and the way they change in different lighting or weather conditions. They evoke memories, moods, and feelings, which I try to capture in my camera and finally to print in paper. I find beauty in their vastness, quietness, tranquility, and balance; my vision about that beauty I try to express through photography and communicate to people, inviting them to see the world through my eyes.
I am inspired by an idealized nature, which suits my melancholic and introverted character; a nature without any distracting elements, serene, and beautiful, born from my love of silence and solitude. I love being in nature, alone or with company, especially at remote aquatic ecosystems, where I can find silence. A deep silence unknown in urban areas, a secret garden that inspires me to create peaceful images with a “Zen” quality.
Your visual stories leave the viewer speechless; these timeless landscapes reveal almost unworldly world. What is the essence of your works, the message you want to convey to the viewer?
My work turns away from representation, conceptualism, and the endless search for meaning, and focuses on the wonder of beauty and simplicity. Reality is perceptual and through its transformation I can interpret what surrounds me, express my emotions, and create a new world. I allow myself total freedom in creating this world, so I can build an image that did not necessarily exist in the outside world, but exists in my mind and in my soul. I try to convey feelings with my work, and this requires a very fine tuning of the tones in order to achieve the right atmosphere for the particular image. It is not necessarily the actual atmosphere of the place, rather it is the mood the landscape evoked to me.
Minimalism, both as a philosophy of art and life, has deeply influenced my work. I feel an internal need for simplicity and order. With long exposures I can eliminate the details from the background and highlight my main subjects, which are the constant in the shifting landscape. It removes all the movements, all the flow, all the ripples, all the waves, blurring and flattening what was once there. The real becomes surreal. I see minimalism as a philosophy and a way of life, not only as an art movement.
Concerning the second part of your question, I do not believe that the artist and the viewer share the same reading / perception of a piece of art, as this is based on each person’s associations and memories. The artist codes a message in his work that contains his personal references, but the mind of the viewer and the references to his own experiences and memories play a key role on how this message is decoded. On the other hand, I want my art to mean something for the viewer. If I succeed in conveying my feelings about vastness, immensity, space, quietness, peacefulness, and a sense of wonder about the beauty of life and nature, then I have successfully communicated my inner world to someone else.
I portray ordinary things in my images, things that we do not usually see, as we do not have time for it in our busy daily routine. I hope that my images will surprise and force people into taking time to really look at the insignificant and discover beauty.
Your creations focusing on moments in nature have a strong impact with their nostalgic atmosphere and monochrome approach. Where do you find inspiration for your visual stories?
Nature is an inspiration for all the artists and the different way we convey it depends on our inner vision and life experiences. A place I have visited, heard about, or just seen in images of other photographers is usually the motivation for a photo outing to a specific place. On other occasions, an object, like a tree or rock, encountered in my daily life, a piece of literature I’ve read or just an idea or even a dream can be the trigger for the initial concept of a work. There is no need to travel to exotic places to find interesting subjects though. Fine Art is mainly about the ability to create mood and convey feelings to the viewer. I often find inspiration in the ordinary - elements ignored by other photographers and indifferent to most people; subjects that convey feelings of loneliness, isolation, and melancholy; bare trees in the water, old piers, lonely rocks, etc.
I am inspired by open, uninhabited places and timeworn and abandoned subjects. A nature without any distracting elements, serene, and beautiful, born from my love of silence and solitude. Born in a country with more than 1000 islands, I developed a close relationship with the sea early in my life, and I feel that this connection is the driving force and inspiration behind my love for waterscapes.
I remove color from my images, as I find it extraneous to the essence, and focus on the main building blocks of photography: shapes, lines, forms, and tones. The black and white establishes a dream-like, surreal, and classical quality, while long exposure suggests notions of calmness and safety. As stated before, in my images I aim to move away from reality and evoke feelings of isolation, peace, melancholy, sorrow. I do not think colour would allow me to fulfil these goals or help me express myself.
George, what does photography mean to you? Do you think a photographer needs his work to express himself?
I am often asked why I create my images. To be honest I am not sure; I love being alone in remote places enjoying the beauty of nature and the silence and, of course, I just need to create beautiful images. Photography is a way of expressing myself, a door through which I can escape from everyday life, another way to see the world. In other words, I make art for myself in the first place.
Long Exposure allows me to achieve the minimalistic appearance I am after, but on another level, it forces me to slow down and offers me the time to observe the world around me. It is a luxury in the fast pacing, stressful world we live in. So, yes. Even if I am happy when I print a beautiful image or win an award in a competition, it is the calming and enjoyable experience of being out there that I find most rewarding in photography.
The landscape photography is representative of you. Have you thought about experimenting with other themes?
Yes, even if landscape photography is my favorite genre for reasons I have already mentioned, I do run other projects from time to time to keep my creativity alive. Here I present two of my favorites.
“Urban Encounters” is one of these projects. It is not a documentary project, rather an effort to convey everyday moments through my personal vision and translate my feelings into photographic verses. Urban environment is ever changing and self-renewing as people interact with the elements of the urban design, offering countless opportunities for the photographer. A small collection of these photographs can be found here: https://www.digalakisphotography.com/urban-photos
Another project I would like to mention is “In Praise of Shadows”. Although shadows always had a special place in my photographs, the inspiration for this project came from the book of Junichiro Tanizaki with the same title. The lively descriptions of the world of shadows sparked my desire to create images that will convey even a tiny bit of the atmosphere of this book. Light is the first and necessary condition for photography – as it is for life; it is shadows, however, that define the spirit and atmosphere of an image. Churches and especially the small, dark chapels scattered throughout the Greek countryside, always excited me. The minimal light of the small windows and skylights, the dark shadows, combined with the sense of mystery and devoutness, inseparable from the places of prayer, create the proper atmosphere for the scenes I had imagined. I ran the project for several years and it resulted in the publication of one of my favorite books. You can check the link for a sample of these photographs: https://www.digalakisphotography.com/inpraise-of-shadows
From your point of view, what is the best time of day for landscape photography? How do you prepare for a nature shoot?
Even in cloudy weather I prefer to shoot early in the morning or late in the evening with the sun close to the horizon levels. The horizontal light at that time creates contrast and drama on the clouds’ surface and thus the dark strips that suggest motion. Another advantage of photographing during these hours is that the horizon is brighter, making easier the separation of our subject from the background. Finally, the side light is softer with less contrast, but also creates a strong sense of three-dimensionality in my subjects. During winter, the sun is low on the horizon for most of the day, making this time of the year the most appropriate for photography.
Preparation for a photo shoot has 3 main components - proper equipment, meteorological data and virtual exploration of the area to be visited.
Long exposure photography is gear demanding. I have a list with all the equipment and the checks I need to perform before the trip. Check the camera, clean the filters, and more importantly check all the batteries – camera and remote control. I always take with me some spare ones, especially if I travel for several days is a must - long exposure is energy intensive. And of course, a high quality, sturdy tripod, that can withstand significant wind. Finally, I take with me some not so obvious equipment. Microfiber cloths, as filters are a magnet for water droplets and need regular cleaning. A pair of water boots and a raincoat is essential if I am going to shoot in rain or in coastal areas. And a bottle of fresh water to rinse my tripod from the salt water is also a good idea.
Weather conditions are a major factor for a successful outing. I prefer low contrast scenes, while moving clouds or mist are an essential part of my images, and therefore checking a meteorological site in advance is a must. Unfortunately, predicting the weather is not yet a precise science. I’ve often travelled a long way to my chosen location, and instead of the promised cloudy sky or misty conditions, I found myself in a sunny environment totally unsuitable for the kind of images I had imagined.
When traveling to a specific place I use to perform a virtual exploration using Google maps and/or Google Earth. I find it useful not only for finding interesting subjects, but also to study these subjects for various angles, vantage points etc., so I am as prepared as possible.
Please tell us what photographic equipment you use?
For the last 3 years or so, I use a Nikon D850. I don’t believe thought that expensive cameras or other sophisticated equipment, can make the difference and produce better images. Some of my best photographs have been taken with my old Nikon D7000, and I switched to a full frame camera, only because of the need to print in large format. My most used lens is the NIKON 14-24mm on which NISI 150mm square filters are attached. A stable tripod is essential in long exposure photography, and I use a carbon tripod well over 2kg, but its stability pays for the extra effort to carry it.
How do you approach editing and post-processing? Please share with us some of the workflow. Between shooting moment and post processing, what do you consider more important for the success of your artworks?
Fine art photography relies heavily on editing. “Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships,” as said Ansel Adams, who is known to have been spending a whole day in the dark room just to produce a single print. In the same way I spend a lot of time (reaching up to 5 hours in some cases) processing my images. I try to convey feelings with my work, and this requires a very fine tuning of the tones in order to achieve the right atmosphere. I also remove elements, which I think distract from my subject and of course I remove color. Reality is perceptual and through its transformation I can interpret what surrounds me, express my emotions, and create a new world.
What I photograph is only the RAW material, which I transform to create a unique artwork, representing my feelings and vision. It all starts with an impression, which is then mentally transformed to an idea about the final image. I always try to capture the image in a way that is as close as possible to this idea, but usually the image must go through different phases of transformation in order to exactly match my initial vision.
Nothing seen in the scene is taken for granted, being it color, form, light... The colors are there to be converted, the shapes to be transformed and the light to be created a-new and used exactly where I want it to be. I want to express not reality, but how I feel about this reality; to express an idea, a message, or an emotion.
I use Photoshop to edit my photographs. My editing workflow varies depending on the subject, but the main steps are:
1st step-RAW conversion: I open the image with the RAW converter and make some basic adjustments – cropping, exposure, clarity, lens correction, gradient tool etc.
2nd step. Selecting the subject and creating a new layer. Then I work on both layers using various tools - levels and curves, dodging and burning, removing distracting elements etc.
3rd step. Converting the image to black and white. For this purpose, I use Silver Efex Pro 2, which has a lot of useful presets.
4th step. Final tuning adjusting the tonality of every part of the image to achieve the desired mood.
Most of your works are represented in square format. Please tell us what inspired you to make this choice.
Even if the square format is experiencing a resurgence at the moment, especially in fine art photography, it is still far from being popular. One can hardly find any tutorial on composition that devotes more than a few paragraphs to this interesting format. It is considered by many experts a difficult format to work with, but also rigid and unpleasing to the eye. Is it true though?
In my opinion, it perfectly fits the minimal compositions I’m after because of its simplicity and graphic qualities. It is the only format where a centrally placed subject doesn’t look weird; the equal sides of the square create a perfectly balanced shape, which suits symmetrical and balanced compositions. And of course, as is the case with black and white, the square emphasizes shapes, and lines. Maybe this is the reason they work well together.
Square is also connected with stability, symmetry, accuracy, but is also the least dynamic of all frame formats. Because of the lack of a dominant axis (horizontal or vertical), the eye moves around in a circle, thus visual flow is created.
Of course, the square is not suitable for every subject and scene. If your foreground or/and the sky is boring, it’s not going to work. In these cases, another rectangular format is more appropriate. The same is true with more dynamic compositions and moving subjects, where we need space for the action to develop. If the readers are interested in learning more about this interesting format, here is an article I wrote on my blog: https://www.digalakisphotography.com/blog/the-square-format
In the absence of words, visual poetry creates a much more dynamic and interpretive interaction between the author and the viewer. What do you think, is visual poetry easier to convey and feel in black and white?
Maybe because of the influence of classic (film) black and white photography, we tend to react emotionally more when we see an image in black and white. Fine art is just about emotions and BW helps create atmosphere and drama! Additionally, B&W is subconsciously associated with certain moods like melancholy, loneliness, fear, sadness, isolation etc., which suits my style and character, but also helps me convey these feelings to the viewer. On another level, BW gives a timeless quality to the images for reasons connected to the roots and traditions of classic photography.
Fantastic your "Water Stories" series, makes you want to know more, to find out the story behind it. Please tell us a little about these works.
Water can be found in most of my works, but never as their central theme. It is usually the canvas on which I place my subjects. This enables me to balance the image and satisfy my need for order, serenity, and silence. The influence of natural or man-made objects over the waterscapes is an important feature of my work and I usually look for elements which convey timelessness, simplicity and sometimes mystery and melancholy.
Even if I don’t try to tell stories with my images, every object I include in them has its own story though and I leave it to the imagination of the viewer to discover it or, even better, to create his own story. Images of shipwrecks, abandoned ships, fishing boats, wooden huts, and lighthouses that tell stories about the human presence in the aquatic ecosystems of the earth. Stories about the dreams, hopes, fears, and everyday life of men making their living from the water.
What can you tell us about this image?
The photograph is taken on the island of Thassos in 2016. Arriving at the location I noticed a woman sitting at the end of the pier, talking to his mobile phone. As I shoot long exposures, it is very unusual for people to show on my images, so I didn’t expect it to be a problem. I started preparing my gear – tripod, filters etc., when she came toward me, still talking to her phone and asked politely if she was disturbing me. I answered that everything was ok and there was no problem at all, so she returned to her position in the far end of the pier continuing talking to her phone for the whole time of the exposure and the noise reduction process (almost 10 min). Since she stood almost immobile, this is one of the rare cases people appear in my images. This is the reason I titled the image “The Long Call”.
You are a multi-award-winning photographer with numerous appearances on prestigious websites and publications. What does success mean to you? What advice would you give to photographers who wants to be known worldwide for their work?
It’s a difficult question to answer. I don't see my path in photography as a career or as a source of income or a way to make myself famous either. I practice photography because I like being in nature and because it offers me a way out of everyday life.
What does an award mean? Motivation and recognition. All of us have gone through periods of doubt and uncertainty and winning an award could offer a lift in the spirit. Back in 2014, it was a silver award in Px3 competition for my “Ode to Joy” that gave me the confidence I needed. Without doubt it was a milestone in my career.
My advice to photographers who want to excel and produce quality work is “Find your style and be authentic”. With millions of photographs uploaded every day on the internet, the only way for people to notice our work is a unique style and originality.
And how can we achieve these goals? I think the best advice I’ve ever received is “Patience”. It is a very important quality in our daily life, work, or relationships, but, combined with “Practice, Practice and … Practice” it is the most basic virtue for a photographer. Nothing comes easy in our lives and mastering arts requires a lot of dedication and hard work.
Do you have in mind a photographer whom you admire and who inspired you in your work?
Michael Kenna is, as you may expect, the photographer whose work has influenced me the most, especially his images from Japan and New Zealand. I still remember the 1st time I saw his famous tree in Wanaka Lake – it came as a shock to me. In his work I found all these things I was struggling to convey with my images - minimal composition, the beauty of nature, a peaceful atmosphere, isolation, and melancholy. Of course, I’m inspired by many other classic and contemporary photographers – Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hengki Koentjoro, Nathan Wirth to mention only a few.
Are you working on a new project? How do you imagine the evolution of your artistic work and your figure as an artist in the future?
As I explained earlier, I don’t practice photography as a career. It is not my main occupation either, so I avoid thinking about my future figure or artistic evolution. I just love being in nature, photographing; that’s all that matters.
I’ve just published my new tutorial “The essential guide to Long Exposure photography” and I’m preparing my next exhibition and the publication of my 3rd book, so I don’t have other plans for the near future either.
On a more creative level I would like to continue on the spirit of my project “In Praise of Shadows”, doing again something out of my comfort zone. My next photography project has the title “Fear of the Dark”, a project with a prominent film-noir style. The images frame people during the night, but also depict everyday activities in places with low light such as the underground or other dark places. The idea and inspiration for this project came from Iron Maiden’s song with the same title:
“And when I'm walking in a dark road ………
I have a constant fear that something's always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there ….”
As a last question, please tell us something about the fine art photography courses and workshops that you organize.
In 2023 I organized my last group workshop. The organization of a workshop demands a lot of time and energy, and I don’t think I can combine it with my other activities and obligations, at least in the near future. I still run private workshops on demand in Greece though.
More information can be found here: https://www.digalakisphotography.com/store/workshopsmentoring
I would like once more to thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to talk about my passion and I wish you and the readers of 100ASA a beautiful and creative 2024.